Category Archives: Outsider Influence

ORANGE COUNTY NOW THANKS VOTERS FOR STANDING
WITH US AT THE BALLOT BOX ON ISSUES WE SUPPORTED

On Tuesday, Orange County voters from both parties turned out to show that jobs and opportunity override government intrusion into the local marketplace, and that partisan politics are not consistent with good governance.

We thank these voters for standing in agreement with Orange County Now on all issues supported and opposed, with the exception of state Amendment 1. For more information, please visit our website – www.orangecountynow.org.

Voters passed Ballot Amendment Questions A and B to strengthen the county charter to guard against out-of-state interests who seek to manipulate the citizen petition process to advance a political agenda. In addition, Question D was also approved, which establishes term limits and nonpartisan constitutional offices. At the same time, voters rejected the partisanship that Question C would have ushered in.

While opponents of good governance issued celebratory pre-election press releases touting their accomplishments, Orange County Now remained focused on educating voters on the issues and what was at stake – and we’re pleased to see that voters chose to make informed decisions.

Orange County Now congratulates voters for their common sense approach, and we look forward to the next battle to bring good governance to our community.

###

We know monkeys are intelligent, but who could have guessed that they are able to craft ballot language for charter questions?

And use legal dictionaries and dart boards to boot!

That’s the assertion Orlando Sentinel columnist Scott Maxwell made last week when he offered his folksy two-cents on four potential changes to the Orange County charter voters will be deciding on in the upcoming election.

The thought of monkeys and dart boards conjures up a vision of the columnist throwing darts at a board covered with images of the Republican commissioners as he penned his missive — better known as “the hacks on the commission,” as he labeled them in his column.

In this scenario, can there be any doubt that Commissioner Fred Brummer’s mug would be resting on the bulls eye?

Not only does Maxwell continue the myth that professional activists well compensated by labor unions and other liberal organizations are nothing more than “citizens,” he eagerly embraces the potential for them to “take democracy into their own hands.”

In addressing Question A, he looks past our representative form of government to talk about being able to “directly petition” the commission. This is known as direct democracy, which often goes by another name — mob rule.

The expanded 150 day time limit allows locals more time to better understand how ballot initiatives may affect the community before voting on them, and for this reason alone you should vote YES on A.

He tells readers that Question B will “ban” them from addressing economic issues, which is disingenuous. These issues can certainly be addressed through those elected to represent the community — that is what they are there for. If you don’t like their decisions, vote them out.

The economic issues he speaks of — favored by labor unions — will limit local opportunity. Voting YES on B will prevent out-of-state special interests from forcing a job-killing agenda on Orange County.

Maxwell gets it right on Question C, vote NO — even a broken clock is accurate twice a day.

He ripped those behind Question D for combining two issues, but wasn’t nearly as harsh on Democrats for doing the same thing on C. In the end, this helps protect Orange County from polarizing political agendas — and establishes term limits — so voters should vote YES on D.

In baseball jargon, a great pitch is preceded by a proper setup, and in this case, Maxwell’s setup stinks. Which means Orange County residents can’t trust that he’s throwing strikes. Vote NO on C, but ignore Maxwell and vote YES on Questions A, B and D.

TomTillisonFL@gmail.com

“There is no such thing as a Republican or a Democrat pothole.”

Orange County voters will decide in November whether to have party affiliations placed next to the names of candidates for charteroffices — these offices include the county mayor and commissioners, which are currently non-partisan.

The ballot amendment would also move the county mayor’s race to the presidential-year election cycle — which means Mayor Teresa Jacobs will only serve a two year term instead of the customary four year term, and be forced to run again in 2016.

This citizen petition proposal is the product of local Democrats and professional activist allies, who are seeking one party rule — Orange County Democrats have a lead of nearly 100,000 registered voters and experience greater voter turnout in presidential year elections.

At lease $111,000 flowed into our community from outside sources, primarily Washington, D.C., in pursuit of the one party rule agenda.

Ballot language is unclear at this time:

Resolution Calling a Referendum On Petition Proposing to Move Elections for All Charter Offices Elected Countywide to 2016 and Every Four Years Thereafter, to Abbreviate Any Term of Office Consistent with this Change, and to Change All Charter Office Elections From Nonpartisan to Partisan

Day-to-day responsibilities of county government rise above partisan ideologies and center more on service, hence the saying: “There is no such thing as a Republican or a Democrat pothole.”

And for this reason, Orange County Now recommends a NO vote on this amendment.

*A lawsuit has been filed against the legality of this ballot amendment, but it’s not expected to be resolved before ballots are sent out to voters.

Citizens for Informed Elections paid well to obtain the required number of signatures toplace a citizens petition amendment on the November ballot that will, if successful, change charter office elections from non-partisan to partisan, and place the mayor’s race on the presidential election cycle.

Charter offices include the Board of County Commissioners.

These two issues will prove to be hugely beneficial to the activist-controlled Orange County Democratic Party, but the majority of financial contributions to Citizens for Informed Elections originated from sources outside of Orange County.

To help establish local one party rule, Orange County Tax Collector Scott Randolph, the former chairman of the local Democratic Party, gave $26,750 to Citizens for Informed Elections through a political action committee he controls.

But here is a list of “other” donors who contributed to Citizens for Informed Elections, according to records on file with the Orange County Supervisor of Elections:

DC-basedLeadership Center for Common Good – $47,500

DC-basedProject Vote: $19,500

California-basedNew Leaders Council – $9,000

Miami-basedDemocracy Alliance member Chris Findlater – $35,000

*Both Leadership Center for Common Good and Project Vote have strong ties to now defunct ACORN.